“Vitis Grimstaad” – Behind the Scenes Look

This piece was the first of a series of character art concepts I created for the upcoming Viper in the Court book by Ynes Malakova. The intent, and the challenge with this piece was to convey a morally grey character—not a villian or a hero, but someone who may have had good intentions that have gone awry.

The most important means of communicating this was the pose—so I began with a series of quick gestures to explore different ways of setting up the composition.

Body language informs so much of how we perceive a person, and the readability of the post can make or break a character art piece.

Next, I moved on to a refined sketch and silhouette. During this phase, I refine the pose and plot out the major details, as well as the character expression—another essential piece of the puzzle.

Before wrapping up the painting, I spent some time designing a custom logo for the “Deos Tactigit”, a military force in the Viper universe, of which Vitis is a member.

Taking the time to really flesh out ideas like this, even if they’re only a minor piece of the character, can go a long way in creating depth and backstory.

Finally, it’s time for the final polish. Adding in smoke and atmosphere can increase the “cinematic” quality, while also conveniently reducing contrast in certain areas to allow focus to move to other more important elements.

That’s it for this art dump, but make sure you check out the full time lapse and narrated tutorial available here as well! (for Patron Apprentice tiers and above).

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